Caroline lands McKesson distribution center

Caroline County is far from being the biggest locality in the Fredericksburg region (it has only 28,545 people), but the county still managed to land one of the biggest deals in the area last year.

In August, San Francisco-based McKesson Corp. announced plans to build a 340,000-square-foot distribution center in Caroline at a cost of about $50 million. The new facility will create about 150 jobs over the next three years, company officials said.

The county got the project in part because of its location on the Interstate 95 corridor, making it easy for McKesson to deliver its pharmaceutical and health-care-related products to customers. Construction on the facility began in late 2010.

Caroline also approved plans for a massive mixed-use development on nearly 1,100 acres near I-95. That project, called Carmel Church Station, includes space for a future rail stop along the CSX line, along with a school site, library and regional park.

It will take years for the project to take shape. The plan is for 8,700 residential units, and 3.2 million square feet of commercial development. The company behind the project is Richmond-based Virginia Land Investments.